The show is ingeniously set up so audience members and performers alike are onstage, which helps foster the intimacy Second City shows are known for. It’s also an opportunity to fully take in the grandeur of the Lyric auditorium stageside. All the performers get to do their thing up close and personal, especially Beth Melewski, whose randiness takes the show to unprecedented obscene levels. As a series of sketches by six Second City ensemble members and two professional opera singers, the show simultaneously flatters opera nerds while keeping novices in the loop. (A memorable stand-up set by a famous composer is based on the idea that not many people get his allusions to Ravel and Toscanini). Even the obvious jokes—a highbrow rendering of a ubiquitous pop song for example—comes across as charming. That’s because they’re all set in the cheesy world of musical theater.

The show is set up so audience members and performers alike are onstage, which helps foster the intimacy Second City shows are known for. It’s also an opportunity to fully take in the grandeur of the Lyric auditorium stageside. All the performers get to do their thing up close and personal, especially Beth Melewski, whose randiness takes the show to unprecedented obscene levels.

The snippets of actual performances, from tenor Bernard Holcomb and especially mezzo-soprano Lauren Curnow, will make you want to check the Lyric’s upcoming fall season.